Placing real stone on wall

[oak194]

Here's a question I know someone will have the proper answer to.....

I am going to be placing blue stone on the wall around my quad 7100. I know I have to put the mesh on the wall first. And screw it on very well, then put on motar mix. (either type N or S don't remember) Then after scratchign the surface and letting in dry adding more motar and "sticking" each stone to the mortar. The question is do I need to use a motar with latex in it so it doesn't crack from the heating and cooling of the fireplace??

I have done stone work on the floor under and around my parents P-68 but never done any work on a vertical surface. The stone is thin inch or so thick, they actually call it colonial thin. But I am worried about it sticking and also about the motar cracking and looking terrible once it gets warm and cold and back and forth.

Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Terry.

 

[zechmabl]

I just finished installing manufactured stone on the wall behind my hearth pad, and, I too thought of using latex modified mortar for the same reason. I mixed up a good size batch of latex mortar, but quickly realized that it did not have enough shear strength to keep the stone from sliding down the wall while the mortar was still wet. I ended up dumping all of the latex mortar and using veneer stone mortar like I have always used in the past. The veneer stone mortar seems to "suck" the stone fast to the wall much better without allowing the stone to slide down. I hope this is helpful. I suppose if you installed the stone from the bottom up, and supported each stone while the mortar cured, the latex mortar may work ok. This style application would be most likely stain the lower stones with mortar as the upper stones are installed though.

 

[f3cbboy]

I just did the wall behind my stove with El dorado cultured stone and used 15# paper, then the mesh and then i used type S velvet mortar. I only did about 90 sq ft and used only 2 75 lb bags of mortar. I only buttered the back of the stones and then pushed them into the mesh to set them on the wall. I then mixed up somewhat smoother batch and used a pastry bag and filled the joints. did it back in december and haven;t had any problems with mortor cracking or anything and also didn;t use any additives to allow the mortar to "stretch"

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Terry it's generally easier to butter the back of the stones and place them on the wall starting from the bottom working your way up. If your mortar mix is just right the suction on the wall will hold the stones in place after just a few seconds. One of the biggest mistakes people make is making their mortar mix too runny, you want to mix it in small batches and keep it fairly stiff
Later you can do as f3cbboy did and use the pastry bag (grout bag) thing and fill in between the stones and point the joints smooth.
If you get any mortar on the stones you can scrape it of later when it dries out, but before it cures. Mortar on anything is easier to clean after the moisture dries out of it, just do it the same day before it has a chance to actually cure.
There are some pictures of the grout bag on this page. Grout bag

 

[wellbuilt home]

If you are using slabs of blue stone what i would do is screw steel hat track to the wall one study on each side of the stone work and 4 or 5 in the remaining area .(4 or5 studs should do it). screw cement board over the metal studs leaving a space at the bottom between the cement board and the floor& wall .
You can add wire lath over the cement board . What i like to do is mix 7 parts sand to 2parts thin set mortar and 4 parts Portland .
mix it with just water .
plaster the walls with the mix, then wet the stone and butter it with the same mix . Set the stone on a spacer that can be removed easily(Dow blue board works good).
I like to tie wire to the diamond mesh and use the wire to hold the stone to the wall until it drys . After its dry remove the wire buy twisting it until it snaps .
I use a type s mortar and sand mix. 3 parts sand to 1 part mortar to fill the joints . I just use a pointing trowel to fill the joints but you can use the white pastry bag if you add enough water so it flows . Don'T try to smooth the stone joints until the mortar is set or it makes a mess on the face of the stone .
The air space between the cement board and wall, will keep the stone cool so it wont crack . John